Personalised sports nutrition

LOLU™ HEALTH LeMa™ Diet for Sports

LeMa™ Diet for Sports is a personalised sports-nutrition framework built around the physiological demands of training—not a generic “athlete meal plan”. The programme adjusts energy availability, carbohydrate periodisation, protein distribution, hydration, recovery nutrition and food timing according to the sport, training phase, body-composition goal and competition schedule.

It can be adapted for Muscle Gain & Hypertrophy, CrossFit® & High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT), Marathon & Distance Running, Cycling & Triathlon, Team & Field Sports, Tennis & Racquet Sports, Combat & Weight-Class Sports, and hybrid programmes that combine resistance training, conditioning and endurance work.

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Sports nutrition and athletic performance

Training-SpecificNutrition changes with training volume, intensity, timing and competition demands

Fuel PeriodisationCarbohydrate and total energy are matched to workload rather than kept identical every day

Recovery-OrientedProtein, glycogen restoration, hydration and micronutrient quality support adaptation between sessions

PersonalisedFood preferences, culture, digestion, schedule, body composition and real-world logistics are built into the plan

What is LeMa™ Diet for Sports?

Nutrition matched to the training stimulus

Different sports place different demands on skeletal-muscle glycogen, phosphocreatine turnover, aerobic metabolism, thermoregulation, gastrointestinal tolerance and recovery. Effective sports nutrition therefore needs to respond to the actual training week rather than prescribing the same calorie and macronutrient distribution every day.

LeMa™ uses the athlete’s real training schedule as the organising framework. Hard sessions, long sessions, double-session days, recovery days and competition days can all receive different food timing and carbohydrate availability. Protein is distributed across the day to support muscle-protein synthesis and tissue repair, while fluid, sodium and food volume are adjusted to the environment and the athlete’s tolerance.

Performance, adaptation & health

Fuel enough to adapt—without losing metabolic control

Sports nutrition is not simply “eat more carbohydrate” or “eat more protein”. The real objective is to provide enough energy for the workload while controlling how fuel is distributed across the week. This affects training quality, endocrine function, immune resilience, muscle recovery, bone health and the ability to preserve or gain lean mass.

Where body composition is also a goal, the plan can combine higher-fuel training days with lower-energy recovery or rest days. This allows energy intake to follow the training signal while reducing the need for chronic under-fuelling, which can impair recovery and performance.

Why sports nutrition cannot be reduced to calories

The same calories, eaten at different times, can produce very different training outcomes

Sports nutrition first asks when fuel is needed, how much is required and in what form it should be consumed. Two people can both eat 2,000 kcal, yet if most energy is concentrated late at night while high-intensity daytime training is repeatedly under-fuelled, training quality, glycogen availability, perceived exertion and recovery may all suffer. In contrast, placing more carbohydrate around the sessions that genuinely require it while moderating energy intake on low-demand days can better support both training adaptation and body-composition control.

LeMa™ therefore does not treat fat loss, muscle gain, endurance and recovery as isolated goals. They sit within the same physiological loop: the training stimulus determines nutritional demand; nutritional supply influences training quality; and training quality ultimately shapes adaptation.

LeMa™ looks beyond “what should I eat?”

It also considers how long before training to eat, whether intra-session fuelling is needed, how quickly to restore glycogen after training, how to recover between two sessions in one day, how to balance late-evening training with sleep, how to adjust sodium and fluid in the heat, and how to periodise energy across different training days.

This is one of the major differences between sports nutrition and general healthy eating: the same food can have a very different role depending on the training context.

The physiology of sports nutrition

Why training load changes your requirements for carbohydrate, protein and fluid

LeMa™ does not mechanically assign one fixed macronutrient ratio. Intake is adjusted according to the dominant energy systems used, muscle-glycogen depletion, muscle damage, the recovery window and environmental conditions.

Muscle glycogen & training output

Intervals, CrossFit®, field and court sports, and high-volume resistance training can rely heavily on muscle glycogen. When glycogen availability is low, perceived fatigue, power decline and deterioration in movement quality may appear earlier. Carbohydrate around high-demand sessions is therefore not simply “extra sugar”; it helps sustain the training stimulus itself.

Muscle-protein synthesis & tissue repair

Resistance training raises the requirement for muscle-protein synthesis, but chasing a high total protein intake is not enough. Distribution across the day, meal-level protein quality and dose, post-exercise intake and total energy availability all affect the adaptive response. In chronic energy deficit, even a high-protein diet may not produce an optimal hypertrophy response.

Insulin sensitivity & glucose disposal

Training itself increases skeletal-muscle glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity. LeMa™ therefore does not treat insulin as something that should always be kept as low as possible. After training and on high-demand days, appropriate carbohydrate supports glycogen restoration; on low-demand days, carbohydrate and total energy can be reduced to improve weekly energy control.

Fluid, sodium & thermoregulation

Heavy sweating removes both water and electrolytes. Hydration planning therefore considers environmental temperature, session duration, individual sweat rate and access to fluids. Large volumes of plain water are not always optimal, particularly during prolonged endurance exercise or training in the heat.

Gastrointestinal tolerance can be trained

Bloating, nausea or diarrhoea during running, cycling or long events does not always mean that a particular fuel “does not suit you”. Tolerance can often be improved by reducing single bolus size, changing carbohydrate type, modifying drink concentration and progressively increasing intake during training.

Low energy availability & failed recovery

Chronic under-fuelling can present as persistent fatigue, declining performance, slower recovery, menstrual disturbance, bone-stress injury, sleep disruption or mood changes. LeMa™ treats these as important nutritional risk signals rather than simply attributing them to insufficient effort.

Sports nutrition sub-programmes

Eight pathways within LeMa™ Diet for Sports

Every pathway follows the same core principles—adequate energy availability, carbohydrate matched to training, appropriate protein distribution, hydration and recovery—but the implementation changes substantially between sports.

Strength

Muscle Gain & Hypertrophy

Energy intake, progressive lean-mass gain, protein distribution, leucine-rich meals, resistance-training carbohydrate and post-training recovery are coordinated to support hypertrophy without relying on uncontrolled “bulking”.

Learn more about this pathway

Who this pathway is for

This pathway is designed for people using resistance training to increase lean mass, improve strength or support body recomposition. It is particularly useful when someone trains consistently but is unsure whether they are eating enough, relies heavily on protein supplements, or is gaining body fat faster than intended.

What we assess

Current body mass, recent weight trend and training age
Weekly resistance-training volume, intensity and progression
Total energy intake and whether recovery is limited by under-fuelling
Daily protein intake, meal-level distribution and protein quality
Carbohydrate availability around high-volume training sessions
Appetite, digestion, sleep and practical food access

How the nutrition intervention works

Resistance exercise provides the mechanical stimulus for hypertrophy, but muscle gain still requires adequate substrate and recovery. The plan combines sufficient total energy with protein distributed across several meals and enough carbohydrate to support training volume. Where body recomposition is the goal, intake can alternate between higher-fuel training days and more controlled recovery days rather than using a large calorie surplus every day.

What usually changes in practice

Instead of simply adding another protein shake, many users need a more structured breakfast, a carbohydrate-containing meal before training, a reliable post-training meal and more consistent total energy intake across the day.

Typical user scenario

A recreational lifter may report that strength is improving but body weight and muscle gain have stalled for months. After strategically increasing food around the hardest sessions and distributing protein more evenly across the day, early changes often include better session quality, less late-evening hunger and more consistent recovery.

Mixed Modal

CrossFit® & HIFT

Repeated high-intensity efforts increase glycolytic demand. The plan prioritises carbohydrate availability, rapid between-session refuelling, hydration, sodium and meal timing that does not impair high-intensity movement.

Learn more about this pathway

Why mixed-modal training needs a different strategy

CrossFit® and high-intensity functional training combine strength, power, repeated glycolytic work and aerobic conditioning. A single session may move from heavy lifting to rowing, gymnastics and high-repetition movements, creating a larger and more variable carbohydrate demand than many athletes expect.

What we assess

WOD structure, training frequency and double-session days
Strength versus conditioning emphasis across the week
Carbohydrate intake before highly glycolytic sessions
Recovery time between sessions or competition heats
Fluid and sodium needs
Gastrointestinal tolerance when eating close to training

How the nutrition intervention works

Higher-intensity days generally receive more carbohydrate before and after training, while lower-volume strength or recovery days may require less. Pre-training meals are adjusted for fibre, fat and food volume so the athlete can train hard without feeling heavy.

What users commonly notice

People who eat very “clean” but are chronically low-carbohydrate often notice better late-session power, repeat efforts and next-day recovery once carbohydrate is matched to training demand. The goal is not high carbohydrate every day; it is enough carbohydrate when the work requires it.

Typical user scenario

An athlete training five days per week may feel strong at the beginning of a WOD but experience a sharp drop in power halfway through. A structured pre-session meal plus better carbohydrate intake earlier in the day can make the session more sustainable without substantially changing total weekly calories.

Running

Marathon & Distance Running

Long-run fuelling, carbohydrate periodisation, glycogen restoration, gut training, hydration and sodium strategy, race-week carbohydrate loading and race-day execution are progressively rehearsed during training.

Learn more about this pathway

Distance running is a fuelling programme, not a race-day decision

Long-distance running progressively challenges muscle glycogen, blood-glucose regulation, fluid balance and gastrointestinal tolerance. The final race strategy is therefore built during training. Long runs are used to practise carbohydrate type, dose, timing, fluid volume and sodium intake well before race week.

What we assess

Weekly mileage, long-run duration and quality sessions
Current carbohydrate intake and meal timing
Symptoms such as early fatigue, heavy legs or late-run hunger
Sweat rate, weather exposure and access to fluids
History of cramping, bloating, reflux or diarrhoea during running
Race start time, course logistics and target finish time

What we assess

The complete weekly training calendar
Which sessions have the greatest glycogen demand
Which sessions are most important for the current goal
Recovery time between strength and endurance work
Body-composition priorities
Sleep, appetite and signs that total workload exceeds recovery capacity

How the nutrition intervention works

The week is converted into a fuel map. Higher carbohydrate intake is concentrated around long endurance work, intervals and demanding resistance sessions. Lower-demand days can use less carbohydrate and total energy while maintaining protein and micronutrient density. This gives the athlete metabolic flexibility without compromising the sessions that matter most.

Typical user scenario

A hybrid athlete may feel that every day requires “high-performance eating” and gradually overshoot energy needs. Mapping higher fuel specifically to long runs, intervals and hard strength days allows intake to rise when it is physiologically useful and fall on easier days without relying on chronic restriction.

Pre-, during- and post-training nutrition

Nutrition goals change within the same day as training approaches and finishes

A practical sports diet does more than state “how much to eat today”. It clarifies the nutritional task at each stage of the training day. The framework below shows the basic LeMa™ logic; exact food choices and quantities are individualised by sport and tolerance.

Timing	Primary goal	Nutrition focus	Common problems
2–4 hours before training	Build a stable energy base	Carbohydrate-led meal with an appropriate amount of protein; control excessive fat and fibre so gastric emptying is not unnecessarily slowed	Eating too little and fading late in the session; eating too much fat and feeling heavy
30–90 minutes before training	Top up readily available fuel	Choose low-fibre, easy-to-digest carbohydrate according to session intensity; add small amounts of fluid and sodium when needed	Large meals too close to training; fasted high-intensity training; relying on coffee without fuel
During training	Maintain blood glucose, glycogen availability and hydration	Long or high-intensity sessions may require carbohydrate, fluid and electrolytes; endurance athletes progressively train gastrointestinal tolerance	Trying gels for the first time on race day; consuming too much concentrated drink in a short period
0–2 hours after training	Start glycogen restoration and tissue repair	Carbohydrate + protein + fluid; the shorter the time until the next session, the more important rapid recovery becomes	Using protein alone without carbohydrate; delaying food for hours after training
Rest of the day	Complete total recovery	Continue to meet total energy, protein, micronutrient and fluid needs rather than relying on one recovery meal	Eating well immediately after training but remaining under-fuelled across the whole day

Core principles

How the LeMa™ sports plan is built

The plan is organised around training physiology and adaptation rather than forcing every athlete into one fixed macronutrient ratio.

Energy availability first

Total intake must support training, recovery, endocrine function and lean tissue. Persistent under-fuelling can impair adaptation even when body weight appears stable.

Match carbohydrate to the work required

Hard, long and competition-specific sessions generally need more carbohydrate than easy recovery sessions. Carbohydrate is therefore periodised across the week rather than fixed at one level.

Distribute protein across the day

Daily protein matters, but meal-level distribution also matters. Multiple feeding opportunities help support muscle-protein synthesis and tissue repair.

Train the gut

For endurance and competition settings, carbohydrate drinks, gels, solid foods, fluid volume and sodium need to be practised. Gastrointestinal tolerance is an adaptation target, not an afterthought.

Recovery timing matters when the recovery window is short

When sessions are close together, early carbohydrate and protein can accelerate glycogen restoration and tissue repair. When the next hard session is much later, the overall daily pattern is usually more important than a narrow “anabolic window”.

What makes LeMa™ different

Performance nutrition + metabolic control

Fuel · Adapt · Recover · Recompose

LeMa™ is designed to sit between conventional sports fuelling and metabolic nutrition. The objective is not to maximise intake at all times, nor to keep carbohydrate low by default. Instead, fuel availability changes with training demand and the adaptation being targeted.

For athletes pursuing both performance and body-composition goals, this means protecting high-quality training while using lower-demand days to improve energy control. The result is a structured weekly rhythm rather than repeated cycles of over-fuelling and restrictive dieting.

Higher-fuel days

Hard strength sessions, intervals, long endurance work and competition-specific sessions can receive greater carbohydrate availability and sufficient total energy to support training quality and glycogen restoration.

Lower-demand days

Recovery or rest days can use lower total energy and lower carbohydrate while preserving protein, vegetables, micronutrient density and essential fats. The reduction is deliberate rather than extreme.

Recovery & adaptation

Protein, carbohydrate, fluid and sodium are adjusted according to the time available before the next important session. Sleep, appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms, body-mass trend and training response are also used to refine the plan.

Sports nutrition in practice

From food quality to competition execution

Energy requirements, food selection and exercise fuelling need to be designed together if sports-nutrition theory is to become an executable training and competition strategy.

Sports performance nutrition — Training demand determines how much fuel is required and when it should be consumed.

Balanced sports nutrition — Meal composition is adjusted for session timing, digestion, recovery and the athlete’s usual eating pattern.

Sports energy metabolism — Carbohydrate, fat and protein are allocated according to the dominant metabolic demand and desired adaptation.

Body composition & performance

Fat loss, muscle gain and performance can be considered together—but they cannot all be managed with the same method

Some athletes are not trying simply to lose weight. They want to reduce fat mass, increase lean mass and preserve training performance. This is more complex than conventional weight loss because a large energy deficit may produce faster scale loss while simultaneously reducing training quality, muscle glycogen and recovery capacity.

Key variables in body recomposition

Weekly energy balance rather than one isolated day
Whether high-quality resistance training continues to progress
Whether protein intake is adequate and distributed appropriately
Whether carbohydrate is sufficient around the highest-demand sessions
Whether sleep, stress and recovery allow adaptation to occur
Whether weight loss is too rapid or signs of low energy availability are emerging

Why LeMa™ does not default to chronic very-low-carbohydrate intake alongside high training loads

When training combines intervals, strength work and endurance, chronic low-carbohydrate intake can reduce training capacity, worsen late-session fatigue and compromise recovery in some athletes. On genuinely low-demand recovery days, lowering carbohydrate can help control total energy. But during highly glycolytic, high-volume or prolonged training, carbohydrate often has a clear performance value.

LeMa™ therefore focuses more on where carbohydrate is placed than on simply making carbohydrate as low as possible.

KInD™ Pro integration

Phase III · LeMa™ Diet

LeMa™ Diet is the Phase III Diet of the KInD™ Program. We also describe this phase as the “Slow weight loss + muscle gain phase”. At this stage, the goal is no longer aggressive energy restriction. Instead, the diet is structured to support progressive body recomposition: gradual fat loss or weight control while preserving or increasing lean mass and training capacity.

A central strategy is carbohydrate periodisation. Higher-carbohydrate days are aligned with resistance training, intervals, long endurance sessions or other high-demand work. These days support skeletal-muscle glycogen, training volume and recovery. Lower-carbohydrate or lower-energy days can be placed around rest or low-demand sessions, helping control weekly energy intake without chronically under-fuelling the sessions that drive adaptation.

This alternating structure can also improve metabolic flexibility. Lower-demand days reduce repeated high postprandial insulin exposure, while training itself increases skeletal-muscle glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity. Higher-carbohydrate training days then replenish glycogen when muscle is more receptive to glucose disposal. The physiological objective is not to suppress insulin at all times, but to use carbohydrate strategically when it is most useful for performance, recovery and lean-tissue preservation.

KInD™ Pro · Phase III · Slow Weight Loss + Muscle Gain Phase

Within KInD™ Pro Phase III, LeMa™ shifts the meaning of “fat loss” away from simply pursuing a lower scale weight and toward protecting lean mass, training adaptation and metabolic flexibility. This is especially important after an earlier weight-loss phase, because continuing an excessively low-energy diet can further reduce training quality, non-exercise activity and recovery capacity.

Phase III therefore gradually increases nutritional flexibility. Training days can contain more carbohydrate and total energy; recovery days retain tighter energy control; protein remains stable; and resistance training is used to support lean-mass maintenance or gain. This is not “eat freely on high-carb days and diet hard on low-carb days”. The purpose is to pair energy intake with the training stimulus.

For people who have reached a weight-loss plateau, Phase III can also help transition away from chronic restriction toward a more sustainable metabolic rhythm. Training performance, NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), appetite, sleep and stress responses are considered alongside body weight.

Important: body recomposition is not created by carbohydrate cycling alone. Training quality, weekly energy balance, sufficient protein, sleep, stress load, recovery capacity and starting body composition all influence the outcome. LeMa™ uses carbohydrate periodisation as one component of a broader sports-nutrition strategy.

How we judge whether the plan is working

We look beyond body weight to the combined pattern of training, recovery and physiological response

Sports-nutrition feedback must be interpreted in the context of training. No change in body weight does not automatically mean that the plan is ineffective; rapid weight loss does not automatically mean that it is successful. LeMa™ uses multiple indicators to guide adjustment.

Training performance

We look at whether the second half of sessions is more stable, perceived exertion at the same pace is lower, resistance-training volume is improving and repeated sprints are easier to maintain.

Recovery status

We consider the duration of muscle soreness, next-day energy, sleep quality, recovery between sessions and whether extra caffeine is repeatedly needed just to complete training.

Appetite & gastrointestinal response

We review post-training hunger, evening overeating, bloating during exercise, tolerance of gels or sports drinks and changes in bowel habits.

Body-weight & body-composition trend

Several weeks of trend matter more than day-to-day fluctuation. During muscle-gain phases, the rate of gain is reviewed; during fat-loss phases, the rate of loss is checked against training performance.

Low-energy-availability risk

Persistent fatigue, worsening sleep, menstrual disturbance, recurrent injury, difficult recovery or prolonged decline in performance all prompt reassessment of energy intake.

Competition execution

For endurance and event-based sports, we also evaluate whether the fuelling plan is easy to execute, race breakfast is tolerated and planned carbohydrate and fluid targets can be completed consistently in long training sessions.

How to begin

Build your personalised LeMa™ sports plan in 5 steps

We first understand your sport, training week, current eating pattern and performance priorities, then build a practical intervention around the real training calendar.

Book a Free Assessment

Discuss your sport, training history, performance goals, body-composition priorities and upcoming competition or event.

Book an assessment

Complete the Nutrition Assessment

Provide your health background, usual food intake, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep, recovery, supplements and metabolic priorities.

Open questionnaire

Map Training & Food Intake

Share your weekly training schedule and, where requested, complete a 3-day food diary so that fuelling can be matched to real sessions and meal patterns.

Start Day 1 diary

Receive Your Personalised Plan

Your practitioner develops training-day, recovery-day and rest-day nutrition, including pre-, during- and post-exercise strategies where relevant.

Review & Progress

Training quality, recovery, appetite, digestion, hydration, body-mass trend and event preparation are reviewed so the plan can progress with the training block.

Scientific foundation

LeMa™ follows contemporary sports-nutrition principles

The scientific framework is informed by international sports-nutrition consensus statements and position stands on energy availability, carbohydrate periodisation, protein intake, endurance fuelling, hydration and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs).

These references support the general sports-nutrition principles used in the programme. They should not be interpreted as direct clinical validation of the proprietary LeMa™ programme itself.

ISSN: Protein & Exercise Nutrition & Athletic Performance World Athletics Nutrition Resources Dietary Pattern & Body Weight IOC Consensus on REDs CrossFit® Nutrition Review

LOLU™ HEALTH LeMa™ Diet for Sports

Build your nutrition around the training you actually do

We assess your sport, training week, eating pattern, recovery capacity and performance goals, then personalise LeMa™ as a standalone sports-nutrition programme or as KInD™ Pro Phase III.

Book Free Consultation

LOLU™ HEALTH LeMa™ Diet for Sports provides personalised nutrition education and dietary planning. It does not replace medical diagnosis, treatment, emergency care or specialist eating-disorder care. Athletes with recurrent bone-stress injuries, menstrual disruption, unexplained weight loss, persistent fatigue, gastrointestinal disease, significant medical conditions, or suspected low energy availability should maintain appropriate medical follow-up. CrossFit® is a registered trademark of CrossFit, LLC. LOLU™ HEALTH and LeMa™ Diet for Sports are not affiliated with or endorsed by CrossFit, LLC.

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